


An Angel Come To Save Me

by orphan_account



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angel/Demon AU, I tried my best, M/M, anyway, because if not im not gonna waste my time, i honestly dont know what im doing, im very bad at romance but im trying, okay so, please tell me if i should continue with this?, thank you, uh please enjoy? this trash?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-23 02:26:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13777713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: David was an angel. And no, it wasn’t in the sense that he could do no wrong (He definitely could). It was in the sense that he had long, feathery wings sprouting from his shoulder blades, and a halo surrounding his head.Jack was a demon. He hadn’t done anything to earn the title, he was just born that way. It was how society worked. Demons were the scum of the earth, and if anyone found out that you were one, you would most likely be killed.





	1. Taking Off

David woke up that morning a couple inches off of his bed. He groaned, his wings had painfully and abruptly appeared below him. His halo was annoyingly pressed against his forehead, having been suddenly summoned along with his wings. David’s brown, short-cut hair was also matted against his face, and it blocked David’s view of his surrounding room.

Scrambling to flip to his side, David’s wings bent at an odd angle, and pearl-white feathers scattered around the bed. David focused on making himself appear normal, but his wings persisted on making him miserable by not disappearing like they should. He harrumphed, but David gave up on trying to make his wings disappear, instead, he opted to squirm and wiggle until he found himself out of his bed covers.

Sighing only a little bit dramatically, David reached up and adjusted his halo so that the golden, glowing ring levitated slightly above his face. It emanated a soft, pale yellow light that would normally not bother David, but was now surprisingly bright in the early morning. He brushed himself off kind of lazily, knowing that when he finally managed to tuck his wings away the feathers would just fade out of existence. David changed into his school clothes fast.

David’s wings, for the most part, did not make his life harder. His wings, for example, did not guarantee him a life of discrimination as a “dirty demon”. His halo did not make David have to learn to always keep his angel side hidden for fear of being harassed, or worse, killed, like demon horns did. But right now, his wings were making his morning a lot more difficult. Something he did not appreciate.

Stretching his back and arms out, David felt his wings rustle and shift when he curled his back in. Then, David stretched his wings out. He put them in a spread-eagle position, trying to maintain balance while he did so. They cracked in a multitude of places, and then curled back in as David went to go make himself breakfast.

He checked the time on his way out of his room, and it read 5:56 AM. School wouldn’t start for another two hours, and yet, David was up. His brother, mother, and father were not even up yet. 

David looked at himself in a mirror that stood in the corner of the room. He looked like a mess, but his wings had always given him this ethereal glow. David didn’t particularly like it since it made him appear almost untouchable by others. When they saw him with his wings out, that was. 

In David’s world today, no one was supposed to show their demon or angel side. Especially if they were a demon. It was considered rude to show off your wings, whether demons’ or angels’. However, there were certain schools dedicated specifically to honing angel skills.

Obviously, the angel wings weren’t just for show. They came with added “bonuses” like flying, and the skills varied from person to person. Some angels received healing magic. Other angels could sometimes strengthen people. A couple of angels even had extreme intelligence. And so on and so forth. David in particular did not know his ability. This was common, being that most people couldn’t afford to go to the prestigious angel schools where they enhanced angel abilities. 

David ran his hand through his hair, accidentally knocking his halo while doing so. The halo merely floated itself back into place, maybe glowing a little brighter in annoyance. Today was the first day of school for David’s senior year. He was a ball of nerves, and could barely even sleep before his wings made sure he absolutely couldn’t. Angel and demon wings sometimes do that. Since angel and demon aspects and powers are heavily connected to emotions, they tend to be a bit uncontrollable for some. 

David, however, could generally keep it under control. His wings had most likely popped up because he was feeling jittery. He had read a lot of books on keeping things reigned in, courtesy of his parents’ constant nagging. They always told him about how rude it was to have them out, and to always be sympathetic towards demons. David was thankful for the last bit. He didn’t have any friends that were demons (Or any friends, really), but David strongly disagreed when people would be so cruel to demons under the false pretense that demons were actually evil by birth. 

Demons were just like anyone else in David’s mind. The only difference between angels and demons in this world was in the physical aspect of it. Which, to be quite frank, no one ever saw of each other. 

Grabbing himself some breakfast, David finally managed to tuck in his wings. He quickly ate the bland and grainy cereal and headed for the fire escape out his apartment window. 

When David opened the window to step out, a cool autumn breeze caressed his face. It was a nice feeling, and David would have stayed there for a while more had he not had somewhere to be. 

Running down the squealing and deteriorated fire escape, David gripped the railings a little bit too hard. Looking down, he saw there were way too many flights for him to do in a reasonable amount of time. David sighed and focused on his desire to gently fly down. Eventually, his wings faded into existence once again. 

Fluttering his wings slightly, David levitated a little ways above the ground. He flitted gently to the street below him, careful so as to no one would see his wings out. The moment he hit the floor, he faded his wings away and broke into a run. David was headed in the direction of a small church.

Now, David was actually Jewish (It was actually extremely normal for angels and demons to not be Christian, seeing as the whole world had religion before this magical phenomenon began appearing) so he wasn’t going there to pray. David only went there because the church offered a multitude of books on angels and demons. 

Today, David figured he would quickly go grab another book and be back before it was time to go to school. Sprinting down the early morning sidewalk in New York, however, proved to be a challenge. 

Eventually, though, David did make it to the church. Hurrying inside, he was greeted by one of the nuns occupying the church. Next to the church, there was an orphanage. The orphanage, from what he gathered through small conversations with the nuns, housed babies to seniors. And, unsurprisingly, most of the orphans they housed tended to be demons. There were, however some angels. 

See, the thing about demons is that everyone hates them. So, when angel parents have a demon child, they usually gave them up. It was sad, but true. David had never actually been inside the orphanage, he preferred to remain in the quiet confines of the church. 

Within this specific church, David was allowed to spread his wings out with no repercussions, so he did. It made things easier when he wanted to reach a book that was ever so slightly out of reach for him. 

David walked into the church’s corner library. He browsed through the books, marveling at the age of some of them. A couple books stood out to him, and he eventually picked one on demon ability studies. David didn’t know much about demons at all, and he thought maybe that could change. 

He asked the nun if he could borrow the book, and she politely said yes. 

“Oh, but,” the nun called back to David as he went to leave, “please do sign the book out over there. New measure to keep the kids at the orphanage helping out.” She smiled at him, and he promptly went over to the table where two boys, around David’s age, were looking quite bored.

They didn’t have their own wings out, he noticed, and David just assumed that perhaps they were demons. One of the boys, much to David’s surprise, had a cigar dangling from his lips. It was unlit, and David figured that the boy just wanted to look cool. 

The other one gave David a friendly smile. He seemed charming enough. His green eyes shone from under a mane of matted brown hair, similar to David’s, but a much lighter brown. He wore a newsboy cap, which seemed slightly out of style to David, but since they lived in an orphanage he didn’t think much of it. 

“Hi, how may I help ya this fine mornin’?” David immediately noticed a prominent New York accent. He shuffled closer to the table, trying for a smile which ended up more awkward than he intended. 

“Hi,” he gave a small wave of his hand, suddenly very aware of his large wings and halo, “I just, um, want to sign this book out.” He gestured towards the book in his hands. 

The boy with the cap nodded once, waiting. The one with the cigar just stared at David. 

David nodded back, swallowing. Were they staring at his wings? Maybe he should put them away. But then, what if they got offended because they weren’t actually staring at his wings and then they thought that David thought they were and-

“Uh, the book?” The one with the cigar said impatiently. His voice was a higher pitch than the other boy’s, and it startled David.

“Oh! Yeah, yeah,” David noticed Cap Boy’s face adjust itself to an amused smile. He didn’t say anything, though. Just took the book and started scribbling in some log of sorts. 

“It’s pretty early out. You read much?” David shifted his weight anxiously as the boy who was writing asked him the question.

“Uh, yeah. Just picking up a small one before school today.” The boy with the cigar took the cigar out of his mouth rather suddenly, giving a laugh.

“That’s a ‘small one’?” He joked, laughing slightly. 

The other boy stopped writing, but he didn’t give the book back yet. 

He laughed a bit, too, “He’s smart. Unlike someone I happen to know.” David watched as he nudged the other boy, making his cigar go lopsided. The boy nudged him back, but he kept talking, “Name’s Jack, and this here rat is Racer.”

“Oi!” Racer whined, “I ain’t no rat.” 

“Your voice sure squeaks like one.” That earned a laugh from David, who quickly stifled it once he saw Racer’s threatening look. 

“Wow, what an angel you are.” Racer said, dropping his cigar back in his mouth and leaning his chair back. He was trying way too hard to be cool. David flushed, putting his wings away quickly. Jack extended his arm, book in hand. David took it quickly. He muttered a quiet thanks and started to walk out. 

“He’s a better one than youse, that’s for sure.” Jack mentioned to Racer as David continued walking away. That made Racer snort, and David figured that he was most definitely a demon. 

Once he was out of earshot, David sighed. Social interaction could be so draining sometimes. Especially at six in the morning.  
___________________________________________________

“Devil’s spawn! Go back to hell!” Someone yelled at Jack. He sighed in a kind of bored way, scanning the crowd for the voice.

“I’m already there, but thanks, fella.” A couple of people, mainly the nice people, laughed at Jack’s comment. Adjusting the satchel Jack carried around his neck, Jack kept walking forwards in the school’s crowded hallway. He’d already had quite the morning, and the last thing he needed was more harassment. 

First, Jack had gotten up. It had been 5:00 am when he did. Now, in Jack’s opinion no one should wake up that early, but in his defense, Crutchie woke him up. Crutchie had been a boy Jack had seen around the orphanage before. He knew him by his nickname and appearance only. That is, until the nuns paired them together for the night. Crutchie slept on the opposite side of the room, and Jack slept on the other. Over the course of a night, Jack got to know Crutchie fairly well. He learned that Crutchie’s parents tossed him out as a child due to him being a demon. And when Crutchie said tossed him out, he meant tossed him out. Apparently, that was the reason his leg was all busted up.

Said leg was the very reason for Jack’s rude awakening that morning as well. He heard Crutchie turning around and around in his bed covers, and then finally getting up. Jack was an extremely light sleeper, being that he always had to watch his back constantly. 

Being a demon, it was hard. It especially seemed to be so this morning. 

Crutchie had leaned up in his bed, voicing his concerns about his leg. Jack had assured him it would be okay, and that he should just go to bed, but Crutchie refused. He then voiced his concerns of what would happen if he accidentally let his wings slip out. To be honest, Jack was scared of that himself, but he told Crutchie that everything would be fine.

Needless to say, Crutchie did not believe him. Nothing in their entire lives had ever been “fine”, like Jack said. They’d all been unfairly discriminated against, and they’d all been abandoned by the people who they needed most. That was the reason why Jack considered all the kids at the orphanage, no matter how old, his family. And he told Crutchie so. 

He also told Crutchie about a place he’d heard about from a nun. It was down in New Mexico, a place called Santa Fe. He offered to take Crutchie there when he could finally afford it. They were both joking, as they knew Jack would never be able to afford train tickets there. But Jack couldn’t help dreaming about a life of ease. Maybe he could practice his demon magic there. Maybe learn skills that would make people be unafraid of him.

Then it was time for Jack’s shift at the library. He had one with Racer that morning. Jack dressed himself for school and gnawed at a granola bar from the free snacks the nuns gave out. He donned his old-fashioned newsboy cap and headed down to the library. Crutchie came with him.

When he got there, Racer was just groggily appearing from the door to the orphanage, complaining about how early it was. He had a cigar, as usual, in his mouth. His wings were spread out lazily beside him.

Racer’s demon wings were a deep, crimson red. Their texture appeared leathery, and there would be the occasional spike on the tips. His wings were a bit thinner than other’s, giving them an almost scrawny, crooked look. He rustled his wings and flew over to Jack and Crutchie, sitting down at his chair and fading his wings out. 

Racer, unlike a lot of the boys at the orphanage, had decent control over when his wings appeared. The nuns would train them and teach them, of course, but with so many boys to get around to, it became difficult. 

After a while, someone walked inside the church, looking for books. Unfortunately, it was the Delanceys. The Delanceys were possibly the cruelest, meanest angels in existence. Morris and Oscar Delancey’s angel wings were a shimmering black, and they were very thick with feathers. They left a trail of these fathers as they walked in, obnoxiously twitching their wings so that more feathers would fall out each time they took a step. It was common knowledge that the feathers would fade away once the wings did, but it didn’t make Jack, Racer, and Crutchie any less pissed. 

“Hey, do ya mind?” Racer piped up from his seat, setting down his cigar on the table. 

Oscar and Morris looked like tigers ready to pounce on a deer, and by speaking up, Racer had just dawdled over to the watering hole and taken a long, long drink. 

“Mind what?” Oscar asked, flapping his wings in place just to make it clear he knew exactly what Racer meant.

“Yeah, we’s just browsing. Do ya mean the feathers?” Morris asked innocently, pointing at the large mess of feathers all over the floor. 

“Why, I thought demons and angels were welcome here? The nuns told me it was okay to keep my wings out, yeah?” Oscar backed up Morris.

“Yeah, well that ain’t mean you gotta be an a-” 

“It’s just,” Crutchie spoke up to cut off Racer, who the nuns were peeking at from their place at the front of the church. “There are feathers all over the floor, and if you don’t fade out now, we’re gonna have to ask youse to leave.”

Oscar and Morris looked at each other before prowling over to the table where Jack, Racer, and Crutchie still resided. 

Jack stood up quickly, and so did Racer. Racer’s wings suddenly fanned out behind him, and Crutchie’s did, too. Crutchie’s wings were beaten up badly. When his parents tossed him out, it was while he had his tiny, baby wings spread behind him. Now, Crutchie’s wings had tiny holes poking through them. They were also demon wings, but they were a much livelier, firetruck red. The nuns were still praying at the front of the church, unaware to the commotion happening in the library. 

Racer spoke up, “Hey! I bet Jack could beat you both without Crutch and I, yeah?” 

Racer glared directly at Morris while saying so. Oscar pushed him slightly out of Morris’ face, and Racer fumed. Crutchie stared as Morris turned around and loomed over him,

“What, you want some of that, too? Ya lousy crip!” Morris grabbed Crutchie’s tattered wing and knocked him over. Racer cried out in protest and Jack stepped forward. He was calm. 

“Hey, that is not nice, Morris.” Jack grabbed Crutchie’s crutch as Racer helped him up, and, making sure the nuns weren’t looking, smacked Morris on his ankles. His feet buckled, sending Morris sprawling to the floor. Oscar’s face went red, and he pushed himself towards Jack, looking ready to punch his face off. Jack hit him with the crutch, too, and Oscar fell opposite of Morris. 

They both scrambled to their feet, gritting their teeth as one of the nuns asked, 

“What’s going on over there, children?” Crutchie looked back at the older lady and smiled, assuring her everything was fine. The nuns took one look at Crutchie’s dazzling smile and went back to their prayers. 

Oscar and Morris spat at them viciously, but at Jack’s glare and the nuns’ inquiry, they turned tail and left. Racer looked ready to fight anyone, even for his scrawny build. Crutchie looked only slightly miffed at being insulted and thrown around. Racer had done a good job of comforting Crutchie by just making him feel just as tough as any of them. Jack knew that Crutchie was tough. Maybe even tougher than all of the normal orphan boys. 

Racer’s demon tail swiveled in the air violently, swinging from side to side in large strokes. His horns looked like they could catch fire at any moment with his anger. 

Crutchie excused himself to go wash up, and Jack let him go. He sat back down at the table with a huff, pulling out the logbook of the library books that had been previously signed out.

It was too early for this. Jack checked the time. 6:02 am. After a minute or so, Racer stopped his angry fluttering around the room. He whipped his tail once more around, then faded his wings out. 

All of a sudden, there was a creak at the front of the church. 

The double doors swung open, and a boy hurried in, angel wings fluffing up beside him. He didn’t seem to notice Racer and Jack, heading directly to the library’s little aisles of books. He shuffled through for a couple minutes, and then seemed to find one he liked. 

The boy looked to be Jack and Racer’s age. He was an angel, judging by his wings and the halo he kept adjusting every so often. His dark brown hair and chestnut-colored eyes gave him a warm appearance, but then again it could just be the glow from his halo. He seemed enthralled by the books in front of him. The boy went to leave, but a nun directed him over to Jack and Racer, who up to this point had been quietly whispering to each other. They shut up quickly.

Jack gave a charming smile to the boy as he approached, “Hi. How may I help ya this fine mornin’?”

The boy suddenly seemed to withdraw into himself, and Jack pitied him slightly. He wouldn’t bite, or anything.

Jack lightened up once the boy responded, though, “Hi, I just, um, want to sign this book out.” He waved a little, and showed off the book he was holding slightly. But he didn’t put it down. The book read The Full Collection of Demon Abilities: A Records Book. Jack hid his shock at the title. Usually angels expressed no interest in demons. And when they were interested, it was usually more on the abusive side. 

The book also seemed quite large.

Jack nodded at the kid, and Racer still avoided the boy’s eyes. He never did like strangers his age all too well. But after a moment, Race spoke up, and Jack did not like his hostile tone.

“Uh, the book?” 

“Oh! Yeah, yeah,” the boy responded, practically blushing. This kid was the definition of shy.

Jack took the book from his hands and carefully jotting down the information necessary. He talked while doing so to make the boy more comfortable.

“It’s pretty early out. You read much?” Jack asked, taking in the book’s massive width.

“Uh, yeah. Just picking up a small one before school today.” Jack heard Racer try not to laugh. 

“That’s a ‘small one’?” Race asked. The boys at the orphanage didn’t spend their free time reading books. Jack finished writing all the information he needed. 

Jack looked at the boy. He was kind of cute, Jack guessed. The way he held himself, his awkward composure around Jack and Racer, suggested he didn’t have very many friends, and Jack felt bad. But sympathy wasn’t Jack’s thing, so he just talked. 

“He’s smart,” Jack mentioned, “Unlike someone I know.” Jack eyed Racer, nudging him. Racer pushed his shoulder back, harder. Jack then realized the kid didn’t know either of their names. “Name’s Jack, and this here rat is Racer.”

Race immediately protested.

“Oi! I ain’t no rat!”

“Your voice sure squeaks like one.” 

The boy laughed, and Jack stared at him. His laugh was nice. It was genuine, and kind of hiccupy. It only for a couple seconds, though, as Racer quieted the kid down with a glare that was downright deadly.

Race leaned back in his chair, sizing the boy up.

“Wow, what an angel you are.” 

Jack was only a bit bothered that he couldn’t hear the boy’s laugh a little longer. He noticed that at Racer’s comment, the kid faded out his– and Jack had most definitely not thought about them– actually rather pretty wings. He handed over the book, feeling disappointed. This stranger was proving to be very hard to make comfortable, even with all the charm in Jack’s voice.

“He’s a better one than youse, that’s for sure.” Race snorted. The boy backed away. Jack thought about calling out to him to wait, but he figured there was no reason to. He’d gotten his book already, so why would he stay?

Jack sighed.

He messed with the books in his satchel for a moment, the walked through the door into his first class of the day. Avian Techniques. Also known as: Flying class. Jack actually liked the teacher, Miss Larkin.

The room was quite large. There were hoops attached to the ceilings that dangled many feet above Jack’s head. A huddle of students sat cross-legged in the middle of the room, and Jack couldn’t help but think how childish it looked. 

Jack recognized a few faces, waving politely to some of them who made eye contact. He made his way over to the group before stopping in his tracks. One of the familiar faces stood out to Jack. It turned around, and its eyes visibly widened. 

Sitting there, was the boy from the library. And it suddenly became very apparent that Jack did not know his name.


	2. Smooth Flying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack is far too touchy for David’s taste, even though Jack doesn’t even know his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I guess I’m continuing this? Since people didn’t seem to think it should burn in a fire? Please enjoy! :)

Jack had sat down a little ways farther than the boy, choosing that since the boy was very obviously ignoring him, he did not want to be talked to. Of course, Jack tried to wink at him. It just didn’t work. 

The boy was very well-dressed, even going as far to wear a tie. His clothes were pressed and clean, and Jack suddenly became aware of his very dirty, patched-up clothes. 

Medda began the class. 

“Alright, class! Welcome to Aviation Techniques! This year, you’ll be learning some complex maneuvers in the air, but first,” Medda paused for dramatic effect, “I’m going to show you a little bit of what you might be able to do at the end of the year. Then my two teacher’s assistants, the Bowerys,” she gestured towards two teachers sitting on metal chairs near the other side of the room, “Will demonstrate a little more.” 

Everyone was listening raptly. Aviation Techniques was famous around the school for how fun it was, and how good the teachers were. However, it was not fun for Jack and the rest of the demons within the class. 

Jack’s school had absolutely no tolerance for demon discrimination, obviously it still happened, but not in front of teachers. That was why flying class worked for no discrimination in class. Outside of class, however, was a different story.

All of a sudden the lights dimmed in the room. Some of the kids who hadn’t had Medda as a their flying teacher looked surprised, including the boy from the library. Jack tried not to laugh at their shock, instead choosing to lean back on his arms and watch the show. And maybe a little bit of the boy from the library. 

Medda flapped her wings as they appeared in a magical sparkly burst. They were a pale pink, and her feathers were long and plentiful. Medda’s wings seemed to shine in the dim lights of the room.

She flapped them twice, a gust of wind blasting everyone’s face. She gracefully maneuvered herself through the air.  
She twisted and pivoted, going through the hoops attached to the ceiling in dizzying loop-de-loops. It would have been dazzling, had Jack not watched the routine several times before. Everyone else watched the performance, oohing and aahing. But Jack just watched the familiar stranger. 

He wasn’t dashingly stunning. But he piqued Jack’s interest. Maybe it was the way that he had been so shy to Jack’s charming behavior, unlike every other person he’d met before. Or maybe it was the way he studied Medda’s performance with an awed smile. Jack liked his smile, but he was a bit miffed that he hadn’t smiled like that around Jack. 

When Medda finished her performance, landing rather dramatically with a flap of her wings, the room burst into applause. Jack clapped with them, of course, but he tried to get the stranger’s attention with rather obvious waves. It didn’t work. 

Medda told the Bowerys to take over. They would show us a maneuver in the air, then we would repeat it. Jack wasn’t listening, though. The moment Medda landed, Jack sprang up to talk to her.

He’d hurried over and whispered something in Medda’s ear, causing her to smile. He pointed at someone in the huddle discreetly, and she patted his back.

“Why don’t you go find out?” She told him, and Jack was gone in a flash. He walked over to the boy from the library, who now had his wings out. He was listening to the Bowerys in a focused manner, absorbing their words. Currently, the two teachers were going on about one of the easier maneuvers. It was a simple twist in the air, finished off with a downward pivot. Jack knew the maneuver just fine.

Shuffling over to the boy, Jack noticed that the boy seemed a bit more stand-offish than shy now. Most likely due to the fact that Jack was getting in the way of his learning. Smart people. Jack didn’t understand them whatsoever.

“Do you need something?” The boy asked Jack as he very clearly made his presence known. Jack sat down cross-legged next to him, and leaned his face on his arm, staring at the boy. He was about to respond snarkily, but the teachers beat him to it. 

“Alright,” one of them spoke up, clasping her hands together excitedly, “Now that we’ve shown you the maneuver, please go ahead and fade in your wings.” A good chunk of the class had their wings immediately appear behind them. All of them were angels, but all of their wings had a distinct difference that usually matched their personality. A couple of students hesitated, and Jack guessed they were demons. 

Jack hesitated for a second as well, but he took a look at the stranger sitting next to him with his wings out, giving Jack a confused look, and Jack just faded his wings in. 

He felt the horns appear on his head, and the collective but quiet whispering that began across the class. Jack smiled, showing off his demon fangs that grew in each time, and that shut up a lot of kids. 

Some people still did not have their wings out. But one by one, they all began fading their wings in. Most of them were demons who had been a bit shy, but Jack saw one angel with a rather colorful set of wings blush as he faded his wings in. 

Then Jack turned to look at the stranger next to him, watching his reaction. He stared at his demon wings, taking them in, but he didn’t run away screaming, so Jack thought that was good. 

“Like what ya see?” Jack smiled at him, and the boy looked away from his wings immediately. Jack chuckled, gesturing towards the other boy’s wings. “Nice wings.” 

The boy looked like he wanted to fly away. So he did. He flapped his wings twice, and he shot into the air quickly, sending Jack’s hair in all directions with a burst of air. 

Jack smiled at the thought of having to pursue him, and he, too, shot up. 

He preferred not to think about his wing type, so he didn’t. He just attempted the maneuver the Bowerys had shown off, occasionally glancing at the boy and smiling. The boy looked away quickly each time. 

They kept trying to get the maneuver, and after a while, everyone did. The Bowerys told everyone to land so they could show them the next maneuver for the day. This time, it was the same maneuver, but between the twist and the pivot you had to wait for someone to twist next to you and you would both pivot together, circling each other. 

The Bowerys told everyone to pair up. Jack whistled innocently as he positioned himself near the boy. He looked annoyed, refusing to ask to partner up with Jack. Jack pretended to check his watch, seeing as all the other students in the room shot up in the sky, partners next to each one. 

As a joke, Jack extended his arm towards the boy, smiling. 

“M’lady,” he offered, pretending to bow down as he did so. Jack meant to surprise the boy, but he was surprised even more when the boy actually took his hand. 

Jack’s head shot up to look at him, but his face appeared casual. Not at all anxious or hesitant like the boy had been moments before. It was an abrupt change, but Jack wasn’t going to complain. 

The boy gave him an awkward little side smile, then he gripped Jack’s hand and they both flew up. Once they got up to a decent height, they let go of each other’s hands. 

“Okay, so how’s about you maneuver first, I go second, then we both do the full thing together, yeah?” Jack’s “yeah’s” sounded more like “yeh’s” but most people could understand him, so he didn’t mind. The boy said,

“Sure,” and he shrugged. He adjusted his wings so he could turn correctly without injuring himself. They had chosen a spot pretty close to the wall, so they had to be careful. 

The boy rustled his wings once, remembering the Bowerys’ tips to keep his arms tucked in. He shot forward, but as he did so, he was surprised to see Jack beside him. 

“So,” Jack began, continuing to fly besides the boy, who refused to do the turn while Jack was right there. “You really listen to these teachers, huh? Arms tucked in, back straight, oh, but,” Jack reached out for a moment as the boy kept flying. He had momentarily allowed Jack’s antics by grabbing his hand, but this was just plain annoying. They were now doing laps around the class, Jack still not moving from his side. 

Jack’s hand found its way to the boy’s wings. The boy tried to hide his shiver as Jack touched his wing, but failed. Jack adjusted his wing positioning so that they were more flat around the boy’s body, wings angled slightly upwards at the front. 

“ ‘S more aerodynamic this way,” Jack explained, pulling his hand back. Jack knew plenty about flying from Medda, having known her for a long time before now. The boy looked slightly hurt at being corrected, especially by Jack. And he looked a bit flustered at being touched on his wings. But then Jack stopped flying next to him, giving him space to do the maneuver. 

He took a deep breath, and speeding up suddenly, he tried the turn he had done a couple minutes before. The last time he did it, the boy had only just managed to get it correctly. Now, the air moved smoothly across his wings, and the boy sliced through the air in a quick stroke. The boy then sharply pivoted downwards with ease, his wings perfectly flat behind him like Jack had told him to do so. As he glided back to Jack, air caught the back of his wings, sending him spiraling backwards.

The boy reached out and grabbed Jack’s outstretched hand. He put his other hand to his head, dizzy. The boy was not used to this much flying. Jack pulled the boy a bit closer, trying to steady the swaying motion. It worked, and soon Jack was flying off to do his own maneuver,  
leaving a very flustered boy behind.

Jack gave himself some space, but he didn’t really need it. He’d done plenty of flying with Medda all the time, and he was an excellent flier. He did the turn and pivoted down with ease. He flew back to the boy, shooting him a quick trademark smile, to which he responded with a small one. Jack considered it a victory. The boy looked at Jack for a moment, asking,

“Alright, should we get on to the partner aspect of this, then?” Jack thought that must have been the longest sentence he’d heard from him. 

“Yeah,” Jack responded. He outstretched his hand for the boy to take it, but this time he just rolled his eyes and went a little ways apart from Jack. 

They agreed to do the turn together first, then try the downwards pivot. The turn went well, but then they had to try the pivot. They both completed the turn, but as the boy went to do the pivot, his wings caught the air underneath his wings, and he shot up with his wings acting as parachutes.

He apologized immediately after Jack came back up, but Jack assured him it was fine and gave him a charming smile. 

This time, the boy kept his wings flat as he pivoted downwards, but now they had to come together in their downwards direction and start circling each other. The boy chickened out once Jack came too close, almost brushing his wings again. He shivered a little. 

Third time’s a charm. 

This time, Jack was talking. 

“So, you like readin’,” Jack mentioned, stretching his hands in preparation for the maneuver. The boy nodded.

“Reading’s for smart people, and I admire smart people.” Jack said it so casually, it was like he’d practiced charming people often. They then did the turn, the boy trying to ignore Jack’s talking as they did so. They went into the pivot, and Jack and the boy drew close as they both spiraled down, air buffeting their faces. 

“Smart,” they were headed down now, and Jack grabbed the boy’s hands as part of the maneuver so as to not fly apart in a mess of wings. “Handsome, Indepe-” 

The boy let go of Jack’s hands on impulse, startled by his words. That was a mistake.


	3. Turbulence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David wakes up in the infirmary, and Jack is there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope this isn’t bad. sorry it took soo long!!

David was falling. Or, spiralling. He couldn’t tell. He had heard Jack call him smart and handsome and he had to let go!

David wasn’t a touchy person in the first place, and Jack had held his hand more times in a couple minutes than David would like. That was the last straw.

Jack easily glided upwards when David let go, seeing as he hadn’t been leaning on him too much. But David was currently plummeting towards the ground at a high speed.

Once Jack noticed this, his expression went from playfully entertained to grave. He immediately shot down, trying to reach David in time. But he didn’t. No one could.

David was getting closer to the ground. The hardwood floor suddenly seemed very uncomfortable to land on with his face, so David quickly writhed to twist whatever way he could so that he would not land on his front. He ended up slightly tilted to the right, wings limply tossed beside him. They weren’t flapping anymore, as David knew there was nothing he could do.

The velocity at which David was travelling when he went down was too much. David then wished he’d held on to Jack’s hand.

Jack, he thought. And then everything went black.   
_________________________________

When David woke up, it wasn’t with his wings beneath him. It was with his wings strapped to his side with bandages. David shifted on the nurse’s bed, regretting it immediately. His whole body ached, especially his right side, which he had presumably landed on.

He let out a small groan, opening his eyes. He was shocked to see Jack sitting at a small chair in the waiting area. He perked up immediately, standing up.

Then the nurse blocked his view. She was a sweet old lady, wearing a white vest and holding a clipboard. She smiled warmly at David, but he was in too much pain to do anything but weakly show his teeth.

She asked him a couple of questions, scribbling on her clipboard all throughout the questionnaire. The edges of David’s vision were blurry, and he could faintly see Jack’s figure standing at the edge of the bed.

If David could figure out a way to stop seeing double, he would have glared at him. One day of knowing Jack and he’d gotten hurt. What was this boy doing to him? There were multiple answers to that question, none of which David wanted to venture.

The nurse finished asking him questions, and she rolled out of David’s way on her spinny chair. Maybe it was childish to call it a spinny chair, but David could not think straight at the moment.

Jack sidled up next to David, he seemed to be chewing on his tongue, which was a weird visual. He stopped, staring at David.

“What are you here for?” David asked him, only slightly pained to do so.

Jack’s face changed to mock hurt.

“The free cough drops, obviously.” Jack rolled his eyes as if it was, indeed, obvious.

“How did you even stay here? Don’t they make you go back to class unless you’re related?” David felt a buzzing in his head, and he momentarily clutched the sides of his head. Jack looked concerned, something David ignored, but he answered. Well, he answered vaguely, but it was still a response.

“May have told a little fib. Couldn’t just leave yeh here, could I?” Jack leaned his face in his hands, winking at David. David almost scoffed, but thought better of it, and opted for a roll of his eyes instead.

“Yes, you could. You don’t even know my name.” David raised his eyebrow at Jack, and the gravity of his words hit him. Jack barely knew him, and yet here he was, being touchy and friendly and– David would never admit it out loud– nice to him.

“Yeah, well,” Jack shrugged, trying to look innocent, “I may have wanted to skip a couple of first day class.” Davey glared at him. Jack laughed.

“I’m just joking with ya, Davey.” David turned to look at Jack in confusion.

“How do you know my name?” David asked, also a bit confused at being referred to the first time through a nickname even though Jack had just found out his name. Or had he? Had Jack known for a while now?

Jack lazily pointed at the nurse’s clipboard. That’s when David noticed the patient’s name was written at the top. David looked down at himself on the bed. Of course the nurse had written it on the clipboard.

David made a motion to get out of the bed, but the nurse pointed her pen at him and raised her eyebrows. She gestured towards the bed, daring David to even try to get out of his bed. David swallowed and sunk back into the uncomfortable pillow.

Jack looked sideways in the direction of the nurse. He stifled a laugh. David then remembered that Jack had called him Davey. He’d never been called Davey before. He kind of liked it.

“So, what happened after I...” David made an awkward crashing movement with his arm, the other one stuck in a sling.

“Oh, well,” Jack began. He explained how “Davey” had hit the ground and gone out cold immediately. Everyone had rushed to the ground, and Medda dismissed them. Jack had offered to take Davey to the infirmary, which he did. He told the nurse he knew Davey in some way (He still didn’t say how specifically), and he’d been allowed to stay.

“Glad to know you care so much about me.” David said sarcastically.

“Sure’s I do, Dave.” Jack winked. Dave. David sighed dramatically. He stared straight at Jack, raising his eyebrows as if to question the statement. Jack scoffed.

“I go through all this trouble to watch after youse, and this is what I receive,” Jack made a tsk noise with his mouth, and, with his horrid New York accent, said, “Ridiculous.”

Maybe it was his accent. Maybe it was the way Jack paused before saying it, expression serious. Maybe it was the whole hilarity of the moment: Jack Kelly, a popular boy whom David had only ever seen in the halls in fleeting moments, now stood over David in the infirmary, joking with him. Maybe it was all of it.

No matter what reason, David laughed. It started out as a silent pause after Jack’s words. Then he just exploded into laughter. He ignored the painful stab it caused in his ribcage.

Jack laughed with him. But soon, the laughs switched to wheezy coughs, and the nurse hurried over to fuss with David. Jack stepped back, taking his place at the waiting chair area.

She checked him over once again, then stood back up. She took off David’s sling.

“You seem to be alright. Take these for the pain. Your wings might be sore for a while, so absolutely no flying for a week. Here’s your Flying pass,” The nurse handed him a small yellow slip with a hastily written excuse explaining David’s condition, “and if your arm has trouble moving, come here right away.”

Dave nodded along to the nurse. Jack watched their exchange from the seats, but halfway through he came up to the nurse, smiling. The nurse looked at both David and Jack, and then she said:

“Your boyfriend here is free to go.”   
_________________________________

“Boyfriend?! Really?!” David practically yelled at Jack as they both stepped into the lunchroom. Jack was cackling, seeming to find the whole ordeal hilarious. His two hands were on his stomach, and he leaned forward as he laughed. He laughed all the way to the crowded table where a dozen boys all sat.

They were all loud, and they all had their demon wings out. David recognized one from the library in the morning. Obviously, he didn’t have the cigar from the morning, as the school would not allow it. Some of them wore strangely old-fashioned hats like Jack’s. One of them was sitting down at the table, since the rest were jumping around and causing a ruckus. There was a crutch leaned against the table beside him, and David guessed it belonged to him.

They all waved when Jack showed up, but they all stopped when they saw David fuming.

“Well, well, well,” Racer said, walking up to David as he recognized him, “it’s Gabriel the angel.” He laughed, and, although David had never seen them and they had never seen him, others laughed, too.

David didn’t get the joke, and he stopped before the table. Jack kept going, not realizing that David was very clearly uncomfortable around all his friends.

Jack finally stopped laughing, and he turned around, smile fading once he saw David’s discomfort. He took the hint for once, and stuck out his hand, gesturing at Davey,

“Boys,” he exclaimed, “meet Davey Jacobs, my apparent new boyfriend.” Jack laughed again at David’s mortified expression. The other boys laughed, though, and Racer spoke up,

“Another one? You cheatin’ on all of us, Jack?” The boys laughed again. Davey was confused. Did Jack go around just lying to everyone about who his boyfriend was?

“Yeah, Jack,” the one with the crutch said, pulling out a ziploc baggie with a sandwich inside, “I even brought you a sandwich.”

Jack strolled over, and David slightly inched forward, only so he wouldn’t be in the middle of anyone else’s way. He grabbed the sandwich from the boy, saying,

“Hey, thanks, Crutchie,” Jack sat down next to “Crutchie”, opening the bag.

One boy spoke up, he had fiery red hair, “Don’t you mean, ‘Thanks, babe’?” The boys laughed again, including Jack.

David was still standing. The feeling was very uncomfortable. Jack waved him over, though, and Davey slowly made his way to the seat next to Jack’s, tossing his backpack on the back of his seat. The moment he did, though, a loud squeal resounded through the room. Multiple people covered their ears, groaning in protest. The squeal came from a microphone at the front of the cafeteria.

Someone stood in front of the microphone as it loudly wailed, waiting for it to stop. The noise succeeded in getting the room’s attention, however, and soon everyone was quiet.

The man started speaking,

“Good afternoon, kids. We have an important announcement that did not make the morning announcements today. The school board has decided that this year, demons will not be allowed to participate in the Magic classes. Flying and other classes are still being decided on. Any questions can be directed to the main office, but the decision is final,” he adjusted the microphone stand a little bit, “Thank you.” 

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is @iassureyouicannotwrite. Please please please give me some feedback, im very desperate as you can see, i hope it wasn't too horrible? And thanks for making it this far, champ.


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